>>At the time all democracy was under attack by several nations. Wilson's call was to defense against this attack.
Until Wilson made that call in 1917, WWI had little if anything to do with "democracy" - the participants were overtly imperialist and militarist.
>>In WWII if we had this idea we would have prevented Hitler from even becoming a dictator rather than waiting until he was at war with the world. There mightn't have been a WWII.
Hitler did not expect that invasion of Poland would lead to war with Britain, not least because of the policy of appeasement. But it goes back even earlier. The penalties and humiliation of the Treaty of Versailles was a significant initiator for WWII, and a major reason why somebody like Hitler rose to power in the first place.
Lets not forget that Poland was invaded not just by Germany, but by the Soviets as well under the terms of a secret treaty. Perhaps somebody can explain why Britain and France did not then declare war on the Soviets?
"... They ne'er cared for us
yet: suffer us to famish, and their store-houses
crammed with grain; make edicts for usury, to
support usurers; repeal daily any wholesome act
established against the rich, and provide more
piercing statutes daily, to chain up and restrain
the poor. If the wars eat us not up, they will; and
there's all the love they bear us."
-- Shakespeare: Coriolanus, Act 1, scene 1
